Sunday, February 27, 2011

Sometimes, I feel like I get a drawing together with just enough lines to make it work. Here is one of those:

This woman was sleeping somewhat uneasily on the subway. Maybe she realized I was drawing her? Maybe her stay-puff marshmallow coat was starting to stick to her in the overheated subway car (I'm least happy with the way her jacket came out)? I suppose I will never know. The light brush of consternation across her face remains a mystery.

Whenever someone catches me sketching him/her on the subway, it makes it difficult for me to continue. She gets self-conscious, I get self-conscious, and a queasy vibe of feigned nonchalance clouds the air between us: she knows I didn't want her to know I was sketching her, I know she doesn't want me to know that she knows, soon she knows that I know she doesn't want me to know she knows, and we slide down, down, inexorably down, into a fidgety spiral of tired sighs and awkward glances. I rush off the subway car one stop early just to escape the humiliation, and wallow in despair for pretty much the rest of the day.

And that's why I appreciate these simple drawings. By capturing someone quickly (and sometimes elegantly - at least I'd like to think so), I've dodged this dreadful bullet. I can leave the subway car at the right stop, and continue on my way without brooding over my embarrassment and the crushing disappointment at the resulting, inevitably terrible drawing.